Recently, you may have heard a rumor that you aren’t allowed to use your personal MacBook or laptop that is not a school-issued computer in school anymore. The truth is, you were never really allowed to.

According to the Clinton Public Schools Board of Education Policy 5158, under the use of Private Technology Devices by Student, “privately owned technological devices may not be used during instructional time, except as specifically permitted by instructional staff or unless necessary for a student to access the District’s digital learning platform or otherwise engage in remote learning if remote learning has been authorized in accordance with applicable law.”

Simply, while during the school day and in class, students are prohibited from using private technology devices, like laptops, MacBooks, and tablets, not issued by the district for learning. Though it is your device, under this policy, if the device is on district property, meaning any of the three CPS schools, the administration has the authority to search and take away your device, at school or at a school-sponsored activity. So you may think it is a good idea to bring it because you might want to watch Netflix during your study or play video games, but the truth is, you have a high chance of getting an email sent home or the device even taken from you.

The reason why this policy is in place goes way beyond just being a rule. This policy has been in place for almost 10 years, since the opening of the new Morgan School in 2016, when all of the students were starting to receive district-issued Chromebooks to each student.

Director of Information Technology Frank Rossi said, “We decided on Chromebooks because it was a device that the district could control. It also created more of an equitable balance for all students.”

When the district has control over the devices and what the students can see, they can make sure that students aren’t accessing inappropriate content or content that is not applicable to the learning environment.

Equality was a big decision for why they decided to start issuing Chromebooks to each student. If each student is guaranteed a Chromebook that they can use for all schoolwork, and Chromebooks, it provides a guaranteed way for all students, no matter their economic situation at home, to do their work. If all students had the same or close to the same Chromebook, there would be no issue with equality, and people would not feel left out for not having a device like others have.

Another big reason why this policy is in place is because of network security. When students bring in their own devices, it becomes difficult to protect the network security and guarantee that all of the applications are safe and have the right things installed on them.

“So literally we would have to take your computer and would have to check that it has updated any antivirus,” said Rossi.

It’s not that big of a problem if there are only a handful of computers to do that with, but when there is an abundance of laptops to do so with, it becomes a problem. There is also certain software that would have to be installed and applications that need to be paid for.

Rossi also said, “We have a very secure network, but we have to make sure that you’re not bringing anything from home that could disrupt that, and it becomes very difficult to manage, when you have three or four hundred foreign computers that we now have to make sure don’t have any type of virus or malware or situation like that.”

What about after school? The policy does say during instructional time, so there is a little bit of leniency there, but really, after school, or weekends, there is nothing the school can do to prohibit you from bringing private devices and using them.

During the school year, there is a guest Wi-Fi called “Go Fan” that people can connect to, but it is only turned on during certain school events and sports, especially volleyball and winter sports like basketball, wrestling, and fencing.

Another question that many students are asking recently is, “Why is it all of a sudden an issue and being enforced?” There isn’t a definite answer to this question. There have been people using personal or private devices at school for years, but it has only ever been a few people and has never been an issue. Now, more recently, students have been getting on the bandwagon of using these outside devices, and it is catching the eye of teachers and administrators in the building. Also, not everyone was aware that they were not allowed to have these devices in the first place.

So, the simple answer is that it’s becoming more popular among students, and now administrators, such as Morgan School Principal Kerri Hagness and Assistant Principal Christopher Luther, are aware of and enforcing this policy.

“I’m not looking to get anybody in trouble. If I say, don’t bring it, and then you have it again, that’s different because it’s disrespectful and circles back to similar issues like phones,” said Luther.

So, the next time you decide to bring your personal device to school, think, “Is it really worth it?”